Awami League will start distributing application forms from Wednesday for the party’s nomination in elections to five parliamentary seats,  left vacant after BNP MPs resignation. By-polls to the five parliamentary seats will be held on February 1 next year. Read more: By-elections to 5 vacant seats of BNP MPs on Feb 1, 2023 The aspirants were asked to collect and submit the forms from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office from 10.30am to 4.30pm on December 28-31, said an AL press release. The aspirants also asked to maintain health protocols and not to make crowd during the collection and submission of the application froms. The aspirants have to bring the photocopy of their respective national identity cards to collect the nomination forms. The Election Commission (EC) announced the schedule of the by-elections on December 18.  Read more: 5 parliamentary seats now vacant after BNP MPs’ resignation: Speaker EC will conduct the by-polls to parliamentary seats -- Thakurgaon-3, Bogura-4, Bogura-6, Chapainawabganj-2 and Brahmanbaria-2. The EC secretary said candidates can submit their nomination papers till January 5. Returning officers will scrutinize the nomination papers on January 8 and January 15 has been set as the last date for withdrawal of candidature.

The Election Commission (EC) will announce the schedule of the by-elections to the vacant parliamentary seats of the BNP MPs on December 18 , said Election Commissioner Md Alamgir on Thursday. He said this while talking to journalists at the Election Commission office at Agargaon in the city. “We have a meeting on Sunday and discussion will be held on the by-election  to vacant seats,” he said. Read more: BNP MPs' decision to resign a 'mistake': Obaidul Quader The by-election schedule will be announced after the meeting, he added. On December 11, five out of seven BNP members of the parliament (MPs) submitted their resignation to Speaker of Parliament Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, as part of their anti-government movement with a 10-point demand that includes dissolution of parliament. The MPs who resigned are: Md. Zahidur Rahman, Thakurgaon-3; Md. Mosharof Hosen, Bogura-4; Gulam Mohammad Siraj, Bogura-6; Md. Aminul Islam, Chapainawabganj-2 and Rumeen Farhana, from women’s reserved seats. Read more: 5 BNP MPs’ resignation: Election to vacant seats within 90 days, EC says Md. Harunur Rashid of Chapainawabganj-3, who is now in Australia and ailing MP of Brahmanbaria-2 Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan could not submit resignation to the Speaker in person. The MPs sent their resignation through an email on the same day.

BNP MP Harunur Rashid on Friday demanded a statement from the home minister over the establishment of the much-talked-about Dhaka Boat Club. "Has it been set up alongside a river with government approval? Is the Inspector General of Police (IGP) performing as its president with any government permission?" he questioned. The opposition MP came up with the questions while speaking in parliament on a point-of-order. "I don't know whether the chief of the police department can become a member or play a role in establishing any such club! There’s nothing like that in Bangladesh’s 50 years of history since independence,” Harun said. He alleged that consumption of alcohol, playing cards and gambling go there regularly. He demanded a statement from the home minister whether the IGP could be a member of any such club under any law. The Dhaka Boat Club Limited came in the limelight after actress Pori Moni brought an allegation of rape and murder attempt on her at the club. Later, businessman Nasiruddin Mahmood and Omi were arrested in a case filed by Pori Moni. Read: Take action against Dhaka Boat Club: BNP MP

BNP MP Rumeen Farhana alleged in Parliament on Wednesday that police stations in the country do not want to register complaints of families of those who are subjected to enforced disappearances for lack of rule of law in the country. Speaking on a cut-motion on Law Ministry, she said three people — trader Noman, madrasa student Nasim and mosque Imam Shohidul in Narayanganj’s Araihazar -- remained missing for nearly a month. Having failed to get any cooperation from local police stations, Rumeen said the family members of the three missing men held a press conference in the capital seeking the whereabouts of their near ones. “Nothing can be known yet about their whereabouts and there’s no discussion about it since they aren’t celebrities.” She said Bangladesh was supposed to present a report on the country’s human rights situation to the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) in 1999, but the report was placed nearly 20 years later under immense pressure. She said CAT expressed deep concern over the incidents enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killing, torture, snatching individual’s freedom, taking bribes and some other issues of Bangladesh after the report was submitted. Also read: Two BNP central leaders quit Besides, the BNP female MP said a report of the US State Department says that the government or its agents are involved in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance and torture on people while journalists and others are being harassed and arrested willfully. She said the UN and other international rights bodies repeatedly urged the government to take specific steps to prevent repression and violation of human rights by the law enforcers. “A few months back they made the same call.” Rumeen said every incident of enforced disappearance, repression on Hefazat activists, taking confessional statements by force, extrajudicial killing, torture on common people by law enforcers are crimes against humanity. “These incidents also manifest how a state has collapsed.” She said these incidents cannot happen at a regular interval if there is minimum rule of law, judiciary and minimum values of democracy in the country. Later, Law Minister Anisul Huq slammed Rumeen for raising the issues irrelevantly. Also read: AL changing democratic structure: BNP “Rumeen Farhana seems to have forgotten that I’m the law minister. We’re here talking about the issues of the Law Ministry. Everything she said was a matter for the Home Ministry, but she has imposed those on me.” The minister said the BNP MP raised the issue as she got a chance to speak. “I would like to tell her not to make irrelevant comments.” Later, speaking on a cut-motion on the Education Ministry, Rumeen said though the issues are relevant to the Home Minister, the Law Minister went to the UN and responded to these questions before the CAT. “But now he has imposed these issues on the Home Minister.” She said new universities are being set up through enacting laws, but it is necessary to think about the standards of those universities and their teachers. Stating that the UK-based QS published the world university ranking 2021, the MP bemoaned that neither Dhaka University nor Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) are there in the list of 800 prime universities. Rumeen also criticised the government for keeping the educational institutions shut for a long time showing an excuse of coronavirus when everything is open.

BNP MP Harunur Rashid on Thursday demanded that the 1973 Ordinance be amended to force four leading universities, including Dhaka University and Buet, to follow the combined admission test from this year.